


In The Witching Hour

by GallifreyanOmnishambles



Series: The Knight's Prize Is The Emperor's Gift [4]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Broken Bones, Canon-Typical Violence, Explosions, Fluff and Angst, Guerrilla Warfare, Hux has another bad day, Knights of Ren are inappropriate, Kylo has no self control, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mpreg, Peril, Pregnancy, Public Display of Affection, Secrets Revealed, Trans Character, technically, trans!hux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-27 22:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6302821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GallifreyanOmnishambles/pseuds/GallifreyanOmnishambles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Knights of Ren and their Master have traced the last of the Resistance to the abandoned base on Hoth. Except the whole thing is a distraction from the real final mission of the remnants of the Resitance- the assassination of General Starkiller.</p><p>You will need to have read the rest of the series for this fic to make sense</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Witching Hour

Kylo shifted slightly, lifting his boot so that the slush of mud, blood, and compacted snow dripped harmlessly onto the decking rather than into the console he was resting his calves on. 

It had been a difficult and unpleasant night mission. The remnants of the Resistance had taken refuge in the long abandoned Rebel base on Hoth. They had not managed many repairs to the forty year old battle damage before the Knights of Ren had found them. That was a hindrance to both factions- corridors had collapsed in some places but unexpected short cuts had also opened up elsewhere. It made the fighting messy and much harder than was usually the case since General Organa's death. 

They'd known their cause was lost, that had been the problem. Hopeless people were often the most challenging to fight, anyone with a scrap of hope left might avoid risks and try to survive. A hopeless fighter will simply try to take as many of the enemy with them into death as possible. They'd not succeeded there. Romon Ren was badly injured but likely to survive. The Knights had suffered no other losses whilst the Resistance had been universally slaughtered. Victory had just taken more effort than usual. 

The last to die had been Admiral Antilles, a former pilot who had been Kylo's late uncle's lover in the early days of the Republic. He'd tried to distract the Master of the Knights of Ren by screaming invective about Ben Solo and that long dead boy's parents whilst he tore apart communications equipment. It was ineffective. Kylo was no longer a man who cared about his past. He chose only to focus on the future he was building for Hux, their family, the First Order, and ultimately, for the Galaxy. The unsubtle attempt at misdirection had him diving into Antilles' mind with a ferocity that ultimately killed the man, but he'd discovered enough to know that the base had not actually contained the very last of the Resistance. That dubious honour belonged to a small fleet of ships charged with a final, suicidal mission to end the life of General Starkiller himself, so that the ultimate defeat of the Resistance would not be his personal victory.

Hoth was outside of effective communications range with Starkiller Base, at least for the Knights own ship. It might have been possible had they taken the time to repair the equipment broken by Antilles, but Kylo had no intention of delaying their departure for even a moment. He'd utilised every navigational trick, cheat, and hack he'd ever learned from Han Solo to reduce to twelve hours what would normally be a four day journey by conventional means. At each jump out of lightspeed as they ricocheted across space the navigational computer was set to ping for Hux' location and recalculate. There was nothing else Kylo could do now but wait.

Leaning back in the pilots chair, he fished the mini holo display from a trouser pocket and activated it. Projected in the air just in front of his mask- disconcertingly pale blue but actual size - was a three inch tall figure as it had appeared five weeks ago. The recording was only a four minute loop, and involved little more than some attempted thumb sucking and limb waving, but Kylo found the image both calming and motivational. This being and the man who was creating it with him were swiftly becoming his entire reason for fighting. Snoke knew this and yet he didn't lecture against attachments as his uncle had done. The Supreme Leader encouraged it, had caused it for the most part. Kylo appreciated the peace he'd found, mentally and emotionally, since he'd first been assigned to the Finalizer. Now he'd do anything to maintain that peace. 

A series of clicks came from the Knight lounging in the co-pilot's seat. They had a second Knight asleep against their knees. Towards the back of the ship the rest of the Knights were attempting to treat Romon's injuries. The amount of screaming suggested it was going well. Dark side Force users such as themselves were hindered by anaesthetics- so long as the Knight kept screaming then at least he wasn't dead yet. 

Kylo tipped his head towards the clicking Knight, acknowledging the speech even as he kept his eyes on the projection. Janma Ren had lost most of their lower jaw in a training accident and had elected to forego corrective surgery as a reminder to themselves and the other Knights of the potential cost of inattention. Masked or unmasked the unnatural shape of the creature's head was good for disconcerting the enemy, and their clicked conversation could only be understood by the other Knights. Roughly translated Janma had asked [what is that thing?]

"This is my son."

The sleeping Knight opened her eyes at that.

[Bit small isn't it?]

"He has a lot of growing to do. You'll meet him in twenty weeks or so." Kylo glanced at the communications read out, hoping for news of Hux, praying that nothing had happened.

[No thanks.]

"It's not optional." Ren said with a small laugh.

"Congratulations, Master," said Trjah Ren from her position against Janma's legs. "I thought you were with Hux."

"I am." Ren replied, the smile on his face somehow audible through the vocoder of his helmet.

[GINGER GENERAL GENOCIDE?!]

Kylo did turn to look at Janma then, one hand making an exceptionally rude gesture whilst the other returned the holo projector to his pocket. 

"Oh, in that case congratulations to you both," Trjah said, punching her wayward colleague in the shin. "Is that why we're barreling across the Galaxy at highly inadvisable speeds?"

They dropped out of lightspeed again, the ship pausing for a reply from Starkiller Base before recalibrating and jumping onwards. Away from Starkiller now. The comm screen flashed. 

"Antilles showed me that Hoth was not the last stand of the Resistance," Kylo said, typing his password into the console. "They were a diversion of sorts. A small fleet was sent out to make a suicide run at Hux."

[Trying to destroy Starkiller Base again? Bows and arrows against the lightning.]

Closing the comm system Kylo shook his head. "Hux was out on the Finalizer. There's been an attack. A number of engines disabled at least. Starkiller Base can't say more just yet."

Trjah scrambled to her feet, pulling Janma up with her. "We'll get the others ready, Master, if we're running straight into a fight we need to be prepared."

Kylo nodded slightly, his eyes fixed on the navigation read out. ETA to intercept the Finalizer: 84 minutes. 

\-----

As soon as he could get up from the deck, Hux would have the heads of the crew responsible for this disaster. 

The freighter had been found drifting amongst the wreckage of several Republic ships during the General's sleep cycle. No one had wished to disturb Hux when he was due to be working the overnight watch, a misplaced show of deference that nearly cost all their lives. Someone had seen fit to bring it on board without checking the entire ship for life signs. Hux would have insisted on that, had he been awake- Ren had shared any number of horror stories about his miscreant father's pirate exploits. The ship would have been searched, no, dismantled, and the hidden Resistance infiltrators would have been executed on sight. They certainly would not have overpowered the frankly meagre compliment of guards left in the hanger. Nor would they have succeeded in disabling all eight of the smaller ion engines ten minutes after General Hux began his shift on the bridge. 

Had it not been for Phasma's excellently trained troops the suicide attack on the main reactor would have been successful and the flagship would have been torn apart. As it was, the attack had disabled many of the power relays to the forward portion of the ship. It was repairable but it would leave them vulnerable for a while. The crew had thrown their efforts into rerouting around the damage and getting as many external defences online as possible, assuming that the next threat against their crippled ship would come from without. A tactical error. One that Hux had realised and begun to remedy too slowly. The team that had disabled the engines could not have been the same individuals who attacked the reactor- there was too much ship between the two locations for the timeline. Therefore not all of the Resistance fighters had been killed in the misdirected explosion.

Working on a hunch Bren had at least managed to get his gloves off, knife in one hand and fingerprint-coded blaster in the other, when the Resistance stormed the bridge. Wild eyed, blood soaked, and in some cases seriously injured, it was immediately obvious that not one of the fighters expected to leave the Finalizer alive. The battle itself, brief and regrettably bloody, has been a testament to the training of his crew. Had he been by the forward viewports the fighting might never have reached him personally. But he'd been at the communications consoles, close to the main doors. 

From the instant they entered the space their objective had been clear- the death of General Starkiller whatever the costs. He'd shot two fatally in the first few seconds but a blaster was not suited to close combat and it was soon knocked from his hand. Two more fell to his knife but a third, a wiry Twi'lek woman missing most of one lekku, had managed to catch his wrist as he brought the blade around. As she dragged him forward she'd brought her knee up, clearly intending to catch him in groin. Hux blocked the blow and forced her partially off balance but he'd kept the defensive arm up across his belly too long, a telling gesture. The woman had narrowed her eyes and deliberately looked at his middle. Four attempted blows followed in quick succession, all aimed at the small bump still mostly hidden by his uniform. He'd blocked them all, feeling at least one finger break in the process, before the fifth came towards him in the form of a roundhouse kick. Twisting, Bren dropped to his knees, allowing the blow to land against his back, somewhere in the region of his kidneys. The change in position surprised the Twi'lek enough for him to twist out of her grip on his wrist. Knife free once more, he brought it down on her weight bearing leg, toppling her. A second blow ended her life.

Hux had sat back heavily against an inner corner of the console, partially shielded by the outward angles of the display, and tried to take stock whilst the battle wound down around him. Several bones in his right hand were definitely broken, the left wrist was stiff and rapidly swelling. His back ached. He had no way of knowing whether the child was alright. 

This had been meant to be a relatively routine short mission. His doctor was back at Starkiller Base, as was the only member of the command staff that knew about his condition. He didn't feel any different, beyond the pain in his hands and back, but was that a guarantee? They had so many wounded personnel after the failed attack on the reactor. There would be more from the fight on the bridge. So much needed to be done to get the engines back online. He couldn't spare his own or a doctor's time to bring a stranger up to date on his situation. He wouldn't feel safe. It would be detrimental to the ship. There was too great a risk of blackmail. He heard someone saying his name but they weren't addressing him so he disregarded it. The fighting seemed to have stopped. He should get up and deal with the situation. He didn't move.

His vision went dark. At first he assumed he was losing consciousness, but his pupils adjusted, revealing the chrome armoured bulk of Captain Phasma crouching over him. She had an arm braced on the console above his head, the edge of her cape caught in her fingers, screening them both from view.

A silvery gauntlet clad hand pressed gently against his lower stomach. "Sir, are you injured?"

So, she knew too. 

"My hands. My back. I don't know about anything else," Hux said, brushing her hand away as he started to get to his feet.

"Are you sure you should move, Sir?" She asked, gripping his elbow.

"I can stand. I won't take resources from the more badly injured." He snapped, standing completely. The bridge was a mess but support crews were quickly restoring order. "Walk with me, I need a status update on the way to medical." 

As they began descending the emergency stairs Bren pretended not to feel Phasma's hand hovering just behind his back. "Well?"

"No First Order fatalities on the bridge." She answered, voice as clipped and professional as usual. "Total loses ship wide currently stands at 2,342. Mostly support and engineering staff. Circa 1,500 wounded. We believe from security footage that all enemy hostiles have been neutralised, but I've ordered a ship wide search anyway. Rerouting of the reactor will take another four or five hours, the engines slightly less. Lord Ren will be here in less than an hour."

"What?" Hux stopped, pushing Phasma's hand away again when her fingers closed on the back of his uniform. "Who contacted Ren? He's supposed to be on Hoth!"

"He contacted Starkiller, Sir," she said, "apparently he had information regarding the attack but it didn't reach us until just after the reactor explosion. He's been appraised of the situation here. I'm not sure where he's coming from, but it can't be Hoth, that's far too far from here."

Hux shrugged, beginning to walk again. "His father did the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs, I wouldn't put anything past Kylo Ren when he's properly motivated."

"Pfassk. Han Solo?" Phasma sighed. "Pfasssssk me. Wow. And it is his, right? It's Ren's baby?"

Hux had stopped three steps down from the Captain. He frowned as her hand gestured vaguely towards his middle. "Not that it's any of your business, but yes. Who told you?"

The pause dragged a little too long before she answered. Hux would need to have words with Mitaka. "I noticed your sickness and the tea. Ren holds a hand out near your stomach a lot too, Sir, when you're not looking. After he took his helmet off in the Command Centre there's been a lot of talk. He's only uncovered his face in the officers mess since then, but a face like that... Well."

"Who else knows?"

"Lieutenant Mitaka." She said instantly. Yes Hux would definitely need to speak to him. "I imagine Commodore Dex knows too, I've never known Dopheld to be able to keep anything from them. Beyond that... I can't say, Sir."

Hux sighed. 

"Sir, you should have medical check you over whilst they see to your hands."

"No." He said as he started walking again. "Ren will be able to tell me everything I need to know. I won't tie up resources that could be better used to keep an injured crew member alive."

Reaching the correct landing, Hux shoved open the double doors, pretending not to hear the Captain's objections or the threat to tell Ren that he wasn't seeking treatment. 

\-----

Standing at the central viewports Hux had his hands crossed on the small of his back under his greatcoat. He was holding a heating pad in place against his bruises, but the pose also served to hide the splints on his fingers and wrist. He'd refused anything more until he could speak to Kylo and his doctor. He regretted his lapse at the end of the battle, freezing up like that was unacceptable. He would need Ren to look into the minds of his subordinates. So far he'd seen no signs that they'd lost respect for him but that sort of thing could spread quickly.

Through the port side viewports he saw the Knights' ship drop out of lightspeed. He'd watched the landing sequence for this particular vessel so many times that his mind automatically began a count down to Ren's arrival on the bridge. 

Breathing deeply, Hux tried to ground himself. Kylo shouldn't have to sense his fear as soon as he stepped off the turbolift. On the second breathe he realised he could smell spice root tea. Someone had placed a cup of it next to him without him noticing. Phasma was not on the bridge. Hux looked around, no one was looking at him. With one fingertip he slowly traced the rim of the cup. Other people knew then.He would have to speak to the command staff at the very least, this could not continue to spread by rumour. Assuming that Ren could confirm that everything was alright with the child. 

He couldn't continue to take risks like this. As commander in chief of the First Order he would be justified in staying on Starkiller Base for now. Especially with the flagship damaged. Even once they'd rerouted power there would still be major repairs done. It wasn't weakness to restrict himself to the Base until the child was born. He'd kept on telling him that it was, that this vulnerability could be ignored. But really he was shirking his responsibility and putting his own pride above their safety. Yes. He would place Lieutenant General Tarkin in control of the flagship, citing the repairs and that way he wouldn't need to publicly reveal his real reason....

The main doors opened and Kylo Ren stormed onto the bridge, six minutes earlier than Bren had expected. He'd clearly been running but now he'd slowed to a fast stride. The helmet was removed as he reached the aisle between the crew pits. The navigational crew ducked as he casually threw it down, missing the deck and hitting several consoles instead. 

Hux turned to face him as Ren stepped into his personal space. One huge gloved hand swept up to wrap around the back of the General's neck, ruffling the short red hair there. The other splayed across Bren's stomach to one side of his abs. Breathing heavily Kylo bent slightly to rest his forehead against Hux' own. 

The entire bridge was silent but for the Knight's breathing for long indeterminable seconds. Just as Hux began to fear the worst, Kylo's face split into that rare toothy grin.

"Hux, it's fine," he said, far too loudly, "the baby is fine!" 

Bren would dearly have liked to have pinched the bridge of his nose, or possibly outright slapped the man, but before he could move Ren had pulled him forward slightly into an excessively passionate kiss. Well, Hux certainly had no secrets to keep now. News of both the kiss and Ren's words would be all over the ship in seconds. There was nothing he could do. After a beat Hux gave in, letting the Knight's strongly broadcast joy relax him enough to slip his own arms up around the other man's ridiculously broad shoulders, ignoring the flump as his greatcoat hit the deck.

His mind allowed him to indulge for about thirty seconds before it reminded him that he was on the bridge of his own flagship and this was not the place for a General to be kissing anyone at all in front of crew. It took him nearly another ninety seconds to actually disengage.

"Unhand me," he hissed quietly, shoving at Ren's rock-like shoulders. The action achieved nothing. 

"Sharn't!" Kylo rumbled against his ear, though the hand in his hair did slide down to join its mate in framing the slight bulge of his stomach. 

"Kylo, we need to speak to the command crew." Hux whispered, trying to fight the embarrassed blush creeping up his neck. "Please, let me have some dignity in that."

Ren sighed but stepped back, gently levitating Bren's greatcoat into its rightful place across his shoulders. Concentrating on smoothing his uniform back into its proper place Hux did his best not to acknowledge the whispers of his crew.

 _Most of your staff already knew, they are happy for us, some of them are very relieved that it is unharmed,_ Kylo said directly into Hux' mind. Following the General's thoughts, Ren added, _I don't think you can even blame all of this on Lieutenant Mitaka. I think they're just observant. Isn't that what you want in a crew?_

Hux nodded. He'd worked hard to build the perfect command crew. Perhaps now they would be more actively supportive of the disciplinary action that would need to be taken against the hanger and security staff that caused this disaster. Bren sidestepped further away from Kylo to better see up the bridge, rolling his eyes when the Knight automatically moved to follow him. Hux halted the movement with a hand to his chest, which was immediately taken up in Ren's own much larger hands, the splints carefully inspected. He allowed it, it was still one of the least humiliating things to have happened to him that night.

"Lieutenant General Tarkin," Hux called across one of the crew pits. "Can you summon the bridge command staff for every watch please? I need to speak to them all here."

The older woman tapped at her pad for a moment. "Yes, Sir. Given the recent emergency, most of the staff are on hand, they can be here in two minutes?"

Hux nodded. That was acceptable. The appearance of five other Knights of Ren on his bridge was less so. They loitered by the door, hindering the flow of arriving staff as the space began to fill with bodies. Some of the crew elected to crowd into the pits rather than stand too close to the Knights. 

Phasma was the last to arrive, not technically bridge staff but no doubt lured by the attraction of more gossip.

Retrieving his injured hand from his Knight, Bren settled into parade rest, a posture he'd begun to avoid when facing the crew, knowing that the hands behind his back only served the emphasis the swell of his belly. Now it served his purpose. Kylo eyed him for a moment and then turned towards the crew to begin scanning them as his General spoke. It was the first time some of them had ever seen his face in real life and it was clear that a few of them were torn between staring at him or the General.

"Terrible scenes have been enacted on our flagship today," Hux began, and every eye snapped to focus on him, "however the perpetrators have paid for their crimes against our noble cause with their lives."

"They were the last of the Resistance," kylo interjected, surprising many of the listeners with his unmodulated voice. "Though the Republic continues to stagger on, today was the end of the illegal military force brought together by General Organa."

"The First Order is once again victorious," Hux continued, "but not without losses. The Finalizer will need to undergo significant repair work. As many of you are no doubt _now_ aware," Hux shot Ren a pointed look before he took a deep breath and shifted the most badly injured hand around to rest on his stomach, "I am with child and by the time repairs are completed it will no longer be viable for me to command this vessel. My place is on Starkiller where I may most effectively guide our final victory over the loathsome Republic. As such, I will be handing control of the Finalizer over to Lieutenant General Tarkin as soon as we arrive back at Starkiller Base. I hope you can all join me in congratulating the General on her promotion." 

Wearing a shocked look on her usually stern face, Tarkin stepped forward to carefully shake his injured hand while the crew that usually shared her shift all cheered.

"Congratulations, General."

"And to you too, Sir, both of you."

The next half an hour involved all three of them receiving a long line of well wishers as every upwardly mobile officer wanted to ingratiate themselves with their new commanding officer and the rest wanted to see Kylo Ren up close without the risk of being stabbed. Only one elderly officer had attempted to condescendingly pat Hux' stomach. Bren strongly suspected that Ren had broken his wrist. Whatever condition he was in he would be transferred to another ship, Hux had no wish to work with anyone who felt that kind of invasion of a person's space was acceptable simply because of their condition.

Finally the crew had dispersed back to their proper posts and all that were left was the Knights of Ren. As they crowded around him, Hux did his best to breathe through his mouth. They stank of old blood, ashes, and decay. Clearly they'd come direct from a battlefield. Still, a twelve hour journey was time enough to bathe, surely?

"Romon's settled in the medical centre, Master," said one of the masked figures, addressing Kylo before turning to the General. "We just wanted to offer our own congratulations, Sir. We've all seen the change in our Master over the last few years- you're good for him, Sir, and we'd willingly fight to the death for the two, I mean three, of you."

The other Knights agreed in a loud jumble of words and clicks. Hux narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to fix oddly shape mask of the clicker with a glare. 

"Ren, do inform your colleague here that I am perfectly capable of understanding him." Hux said in a snotty tone before heading off down the bridge. "I'll be inspecting the reactor repairs if anyone should need me."

Kylo Force lifted his helmet out of the crew pit where he'd left it, allowing it to crash into the back of Janma's own helmet on its way to his hand.

"Seriously? _'You're both insane but at least you got the one with the eight pack'_?" He hissed as he pulled the helmet down over his hair. "Just for that, you're on cleaning duty. On your own. The rest of you, hit the showers. Then I need to introduce you to the concept of of an open bar and a proper celebration."

Thus began the first time that the Knights of Ren got drunk onboard a First Order Star Destroyer. It was also the last.


End file.
